Morris tribune., 1887-01-26
PENCIL AGAINST PfSTOL,
A Bully Receives Painful and Curious Lessen
From Quiet Man.

From Quiet Man.
One OF the notorious characters o.
this section is Three-toed Watson,
whose right first name nobody knows;
and whose last name probably WQ$
not Watson iii the states. He Was
one 81 the gang called rustlers who
keep on the edge OF civilization and
make it morally rugged. Three-toed
Wa6scn came here with the railroad
and has made himself unpleasantly
conspicuous in all the fights and fan,
dango trays that have varied the 9th.
erwise monotonQus cenrse e. things III
Chiratitc. BY shooting two men and
freely flourishing q frontier revolver
in the saloons, Watson has acquired
the coveted notoriety OF being a
bad man and chief of the camp, and
also established the custom among
barkeeplrs OF never charging him any
thing for whlskey or meals When
the railroad went an THree-t Oed Wat
son did n6t follow with the gang. 1t
is not an easy thing to be acknowledge
ed as chief in q railroad camp, but,
having got there, the privilege of free
lunches, and general bossship OF the
saloons are too valuable to a frontier
tough to be lightly thrown away or
abandoned: Watson is very liberal
with his privileges and never takes
drink without asking all hands to ;ein
HIM. A refusal to drunk with him is
a deadly insult, IS it conveys to the
mind u Three-toed Watson the in
ference that the person refusing con.
siders him no gentleman. After to-
nights experience, however; lie prob
ably will not lee SO pressing liberal.
Two mining engineers were sitting
at table III q saloon where the bully
was running things, and when Watson
ordered everybody up to the bar one
of them, a German named Winkler,
politely declined, Mr.. Watson pro
duced a ponderous pistol, and, poking
the muzzle into Winkler's face, he
roared:-
Yer won't drink with me, yer
Dutch tender FOOT Reckon yer don't
know me. Pm a bowling bIizzar OF
the perarie, am; and when I'm turn.
ed loose, it's dirty work cleaning up
the ranch. I'm a gentleman, and
you'll drink along O. me or make a
soft seat for the Coroner.
Mr.. Winklers one eye squinted into
the pistol barrel, and quietly re-
Marked
"Well. If you insist. I'm with you
Getting up from the table, lie Walked
over to the bar and stood beside Wat.
son, who flourished the pistol once
more Under the nose Of Winkler and
returned it to the holster. Holding a
whiskey glass in. the left hand, WinkIer
took from vest pocket a draughts-
mans six H lead pencil, sharpened to
a needle point. Turning to Three-toed
Watson he said
Look here, sir! You are q bigger
man than | am, and could whip me if
you wanted to without any weapons.
| didn't want to drink, but you pulled
q pistol and would have shot ne if
hadn't stepped up here. l carry no
arms, you see; nothing but pencil"
Here WinkIer poised the pencil, which
he grasped firmly with his right thumb
and finger, directly opposite Watson's
face as though to call attention to
the insigniticance Of his armory and
his REMARKS; at the same
time looking the bully steadily IN the
eye.
"Now want to tell you," he con-
tin!ued. "that you're an Internal cow
ard and a scoundrel, and | can lick
you with lead pencil" And just as
the bully reached for his gun the pen
ell darted forward like a flash into
his left eye, the point passing accurate
Iy through the pupil. Three-toed
Watson yelled in agony and fell upon
the floor, writhing and shrieking
Mr.. Winkler put the pencil back into
his vest pocket, replaced the untasted
whiskey upon the bar, and went out.
Watson may pull through if he has
luck, but that eye will be. of no more
use to him, and his privileges as a
bad man are gone.-NeW York Sun.